Last Updated on September 24, 2025 by Ewen Finser
Affiliate marketing is a powerful way to drive sales, but as you’ve no doubt discovered it can quickly become a nightmare if you don’t have the right affiliate program to keep you organised and maximise sales. Tapfiliate and Everflow are two popular options for growing businesses, but which is the best for your business?
Tapfiliate is generally seen as the simple, affordable option while Everflow is suitable for businesses scaling fast. But there’s more to both of these tools than that. In this article, I deep dive into these two programmes to understand their strengths and features so you can work out which is best for you.
Comparison at a glance
Short on time? The Everflow vs Tapfiliate summary table below will give you the headlines so you can make a decision quickly.
Everflow | Tapfiliate | |
Best for | Fast growing SaaS and ecommerce businesses, agencies, and enterprises running multi-channel programs | Growing ecommerce and SaaS hybrids needing a simple affiliate program |
Set up | Complex set up requiring a steep learning curve but comes with onboarding and training | Quick and straightforward to implement |
Integrations | Large number of integrations – Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, WooCommerce, CRMs, APIs, and ad platforms | Fewer integrations – Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, Wix, Squarespace |
Features | Lots of features – advanced analytics, fraud detection, multi-touch attribution, multi-channel tracking (affiliates, influencers, ads), and a partner marketplace | Limited features – white-label dashboards, multilingual support, recurring commissions |
Scalability | Built for high growth businesses as it can handle large affiliate networks and multiple channels | Better for small-to-mid networks as it can’t handle large networks |
Reporting | Advanced reporting, including multi-touch attribution, granular insights, and fraud detection | Basic reporting options, such as single-touch attribution and limited analytics |
Recruitment | Built-in recruitment marketplace which includes access to Skimlinks | Only supports manual recruitment |
Pricing | Custom pricing, higher than Tapfiiate | Starts at $89/month |
Features glossary
I know it took me a while to get to grips with all the jargon that comes with performance marketing, so in case you need a refresh, here’s a little reminder of what we mean by the features in the summary table above:
Multi-touch attribution
Customers rarely interact with just one partner before purchasing, for example they might read a blog, and then click on a social media post before purchasing through an affiliate coupon site. It’s important to see the whole customer journey as it helps you make sure you reward the right partners who are really driving demand for your products.
Fraud detection
There is a lot of fraud in the affiliate world, such as fake leads, bots and dodgy websites. Fraud detection helps you ensure you only reward legitimate partners and avoid paying money to bad traffic.
Marketplace access
When I first started working with affiliates, I recruited them all manually which meant hours spent researching and countless emails and DMs. I quickly realised this wasn’t going to be sustainable once I got past about 5 affiliates. Programs like Everflow come with a marketplace where you can instantly connect with a ready-made pool of publishers, influencers and content sites, saving you huge amounts of time.
Custom commissions
Not every sale or customer is worth the same to your business. Custom commissions allow you to set flexible rules around commissions which means you can reward affiliates based on quality rather than just volume. This helps you to incentivise those partners who send you infrequent but high value sales.
How to choose the right affiliate program
Before diving in, it’s important to work out exactly what your business needs. Don’t skip this step! I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve purchased software because of all the shiny features, only to quickly realise that none of them actually benefited my business.
To work out what you need, ask yourself these simple questions:
What stage is your business at?
Are you an early-stage business? In which case something affordable and simple like Tapfiliate could be just what you need. Or are you growing fast and with big ambitions? Then a program like Everflow which can handle lots of affiliates might be more suitable.
Which channels matter most to you?
Do you want to keep track of multiple performance marketing channels like influencers, paid ads, and agencies. If so, you need a program like Everflow which can handle multiple channels easily.
How important is reporting and compliance?
If you’re happy with a simple dashboard for monitoring affiliates then Tapfiliate should be enough, but if you want to see multiple attributions and large numbers of affiliates then Everflow is the one for you..
What’s your budget and capacity?
If, like me when I first started my business, you’re covering every job role from tech to marketing to HR, then you might want to keep it simple and go for an affordable, easy to set up option like Tapfiliate. Everflow is more expensive and comes with a steep learning curve requiring time and some technical know-how.
Everything you need to know about Tapfiliate
Now you’re clear on what you need, let’s explore what Tapfiliate can offer. For me, Tapfiliate is a solid mid-market affiliate platform. It’s more powerful than entry level programs like Rewardful but it doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles (and price) of expensive tools like Everflow or Impact.
Key advantages
The key advantages of Tapfiliate include:
- Easy set up so you can get started quickly.
- Seamless integrations with common software like Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, Wix and Squarespace.
- Multilingual support for selling internationally.
- While label dashboards so you can create professional, on brand dashboards for your partners.
- Recurring commissions which is great for SaaS businesses with customers who pay monthly as it means you can reward affiliates for each renewal rather than just the first sign-up.
Main drawbacks
As I mentioned, Tapfiliate is a mid-level tool which means that it does come with limitations, including:
- Basic reporting – you won’t get multi-touch attribution and you’ll find it difficult to drill down into customer journeys.
- No built-in fraud protection which can be a problem as you scale and your affiliate spend increases.
- No built-in marketplace which means recruitment is manual and time consuming.
Pricing
Pricing starts at $89 per month, which I’d call mid-range. It’s affordable for growing businesses, but you need to remember that you may outgrow it sooner rather than later.
My view
In my experience, Tapfiliate is a good choice if you’ve outgrown starter tools but you’re not ready to invest in an enterprise-level platform. It’s important to look to the future though. If your affiliate activity is likely to stay steady for at least a year or two then Tapfiliate could be perfect for you. However, if you’re growing fast, then you might want to skip Tapfiliate and invest in a sophisticated program like Everflow so you save the hassle of switching a few months down the line.
Everything you need to know about Everflow
So what about Everflow? Where Tapfiliate is a good mid-market option, Everflow is more of a scaling platform. It’s built for businesses running multi-channel performance marketing, rather than simply affiliates. If you’re planning to grow aggressively, or if you’re already juggling affiliates, influencers, and paid media, Everflow is the best fit for you.
Key advantages
The main benefits of Everflow are its:
- Powerful all in one dashboard – you can see everything you need to track (revenue, payouts, clicks, conversions, across every channel you’re running) all in one place, which saves you time and helps boost profitability.
- Advanced analytics – unlike Tapfiliate, you can easily view multi-touch attribution to see your customers’ full journey.
- Fraud protection means your money is going to the right people, no matter how large you scale.
- Multi-channel support – you’re not just limited to affiliates, you can manage influences, media buyers, paid ads and agencies all in the same system. You also get access to an impressive publisher marketplace through the Skimlinks integration.
Main drawbacks
All these features come with a cost:
- It’s a lot more complex than Tapfiliate so it comes with a much steeper learning curve (although there is training and onboarding).
- All the features mean a much bigger price tag.
Pricing
Everflow offers custom pricing so there’s no fixed starting price. However it’s definitely more expensive than mid-market tools like Tapfiliate.
My view
If you’re serious about scaling or you’re already managing multiple channels then Everyflow is the best all-round choice for you. While it’s more expensive and takes longer to set up, it’s a worthwhile investment if you’re serious about growing your performance marketing. With its impressive features it will save you time and help you maximise ROI in the long run.
When to choose Tapfiliate vs Everflow
So if you’re looking to make the switch, when is the best time?
When Tapfiliate Makes Sense
If you’re a growing ecommerce brand or a SaaS company on Stripe or Shopify, and your affiliate program is still fairly straightforward, then Tapfiliate will continue to give you what you need at a reasonable price tag. Stick with Tapfiliate if…
- You’re early to mid-stage and want something affordable and easy to set up.
- You only plan to run a simple affiliate program (not influencers, agencies, or multi-channel campaigns).
- You want features like white-label dashboards or multilingual support for branding or international reach.
When Everflow Is the Better Choice
But if you’re growing fast or you know that serious scaling is on the horizon then I would make the switch to Everflow now. Switch to Everflow if…
- You’re scaling fast and need advanced analytics to understand the full customer journey.
- You want fraud protection to safeguard your spend as budgets grow.
- You’re managing multiple channels — affiliates, influencers, agencies, ads — and want them tracked in one place.
- You don’t want to outgrow your platform and face the hassle of switching later.
If you can already see your affiliate program becoming more complex in the next 12–18 months, then I would go with Everflow now. It’s more future-proof and will save you the pain of migrating later.
Summary
If I were running a lean ecommerce or SaaS program on a tight budget, I’d start with Tapfiliate. That’s an approach I’ve taken in the past and it’s worked well for me but just be aware that you’ll need to make the switch if you start growing quickly. However if I were running an agency, an enterprise brand, or simply planning to scale aggressively, I’d go straight for Everflow. It will be worth it in the long run even if it takes a bit more effort and expense upfront.